Microsoft has been hard at work - with redesigns across its cloud services, Windows 8, Windows Phone, and Office. It's making giant headway in streamlining all its products and services, giving them all a similar look and feel and integrating them whenever and wherever possible - everything now coordinates with the Windows 8 metro-style look (same fonts, block structures, etc.). Until this week there was one missing component - mail. But that ended with the release of Outlook.com.

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Microsoft is no stranger to the world of email- on both the consumer (Hotmail) and enterprise (Outlook and Exchange) fronts. Outlook.com is Microsoft's next-gen email client, which will be browser-based. Unlike other email clients that have tacked on additional services and features to an existing format, it's a total refresh of Hotmail. To me, email seems like one of the few things that haven't kept up with the speed of tech improvements. With its new system, Microsoft has addressed many of the nuisances found on current mail programs, such as not being able to send large files (for an easy way to send large files, read my recent blog on YouSendIt). The new Outlook.com is also deeply integrated with social media and the cloud. You can connect it with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, and Google if you choose, which means that you can import contacts from these services, and also tweet or Facebook message right within Outlook.com. But don't worry - you only integrate with the media with which you choose to. I personally didn't link to Facebook or Twitter because I didn't want my contact list inundated and I like being unconnected from social networks most of the time. The new email program also leverages other great Microsoft services as it integrates with Office Web Apps, SkyDrive, and soon Skype. This means that you can work on documents, share photos, and use email from the same hub without having to switch between programs.

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As I mentioned, I've already set up an account in the preview version of Outlook.com and was impressed with the sleekness and unobtrusiveness of the interface. As with Gmail and enterprise version of -Outlook, you can categorize emails as priority if necessary and move them to various folders. One standout feature is the Quick News Section, which filters documents automatically based upon the contents so you can easily find emails with photographs, document attachments, or shipping updates. Fear not though, this is available as a tool to help you get to what you want quicker - it doesn't actually move them to or from any folders. Our inboxes are so cluttered these days, this just helps you get to what you want more readily.

To maintain the streamlined look, many functions are hidden unless you mouse over them. For instance, if you want to access the People Hub (or SkyDrive or Office), you have to mouse over to the right of the Outlook logo in the top left corner to unveil an arrow. And if you want to get an "instant action" command you have to mouse over the message - then a bunch of icons will appear to let you mark it as unread, flag it, or delete it. I personally like this approach since it keeps the look uncluttered. After you perform an action once, doing it again becomes fairly rote. One thing I noticed that I like and wasn't there was a mail preview pane but I was able to activate it by going into settings.

The biggest annoyance was the ads on the right hand side. But hey - Microsoft's got to generate revenue somehow for this free service! When I was using the email service, a Bing Shopping bar populated - but Microsoft has guaranteed users the ads aren't linked to any information you provide through the mail provider. In my opinion, email should remain private and confidential and I'm glad Microsoft recognizes this and is actively taking a stand against personalized ads. And Microsoft claims that once you dive in to emails the ads will disappear - though I noticed some quirks with the preview version. While I won't deliver my official verdict until I've used it a while longer, so far I've been impressed with the minimalistic yet user-friendly experience. And I definitely think it's a viable option for anyone who wants an easier method of sorting through email. Regardless, my advice is to sign up and claim your @Outlook.com address now!